


AkaKuro Week 2015

by sinamour



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-24
Updated: 2015-04-24
Packaged: 2018-03-25 12:27:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3810385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sinamour/pseuds/sinamour
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The collection of stories written for Akkr Week 2015.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I Know You Like I Know Buddha

**Author's Note:**

> Tetsuya reflects quite a bit in the car as he travels along with Seijuurou. Prompt: Distance.

“Are you afraid?” Seijuurou asks from Tetsuya’s left, voice low and tender, but his eyes are a set of quiet storm of red; and that is how Tetsuya knows that Seijuurou is not as calm as he would like to be. There is a rare rigidity to the slant of his brows even as he smiles, and Tetsuya only remembers seeing it when Seijuurou had to deal with Haizaki or Nash.

But Tetsuya cannot tell if Seijuurou is afraid or excited or nervous – he doesn’t think that he knows Seijuurou well enough that he can recognise those on him. If he were to be completely honest, he’ll admit that Seijuurou isn’t all too different from the Buddha statue that he has at home: he can see the cracks and flaws that were inflicted on them, but he will only ever know the calm, patient façade that they permit him to see.

“Tetsuya?” Seijuurou calls again, this time shifting a little towards the boy, and there is a curious tilt to his head that amuses Tetsuya because it makes him look like a bobble toy.

He clenches his fingers to stop himself from reaching over to poke at Seijuurou’s chin – and reminds himself that this isn’t Taiga or Daiki or Kise, whom he can tease and kid at whim.

This is Akashi Seijuurou – heir of an empire, prodigy in his own right,  _his boyfriend._

So he reaches over instead, putting a hand over fingers as elegant as the notes of Mozart’s opus, and grips it with his own Buddha smile.

“If it’s with Akashi-kun, there’s nothing that I’d be afraid of.”

Seijuurou smiles back, pleased – and Tetsuya fights to find a (non-existent) harbour in the quiet red storm that doesn’t subside

or he will drown.

Except he already has. 


	2. Researching Charles Dodgson

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seijuurou is doing his best to keep up with Tetsuya’s research interests.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Vorpal sword. Short crack.

Tetsuya isn’t sure what to expect when he returns from his 2-week research trip on Charles Lutwidge Dodgson at Oxford – made compulsory for all Literature students in his university – but being pushed up and pinned against the front door of their apartment isn’t it.

Seijuurou isn’t usually so upfront with his affection, preferring to draw out his fondness in a long streak of finger-holds, ear kisses, and expensive dinners before finally taking Tetsuya to bed with a quiet smile that promises so much more – which is why Tetsuya panics when he feels a tongue forcing itself into his mouth and hands hoisting him up to wrap his legs around a waist, at least until he registers the familiar fragrance of spice and herbs.

“Sei-” Tetsuya tries, but Seijuurou’s lips are insistent, and it smothers his protests even before he could get it out. It makes him drop his bags, and he doesn’t like that he’s not gotten out of his coat or shoes yet, but when Seijuurou adds that little bit of pressure against him and nips at the curve of his ear, he forgets everything but this man holding him up.

It’s pure instincts that make him squeeze his legs tighter around Seijuurou’s waist – tip his head back for his partner to mark; and Seijuurou obliges like an animal in abnormal heat because he growls at the show of more skin and leans forward to suck a new patch of bruise into Tetsuya’s paleness. Tetsuya wants to laugh because he’s never seen his lover like this before in their three years of dating, and while he’s secretly wished for a more feral side to Seijuurou’s romantic advancement, the actual display of a savage, unrestrained Seijuurou turns out to be more hilarious than sexy.

“Sei,” Tetsuya calls, panting in spite of himself but also smiling wide enough he was grinning, and tugs at his lover’s hair when Seijuurou ignores him to press another kiss against the hollow of his collarbone. “ _Sei._ ”

“What,” Seijuurou snaps back, his brow creased in annoyance at the interruption, “I was working on putting my vorpal sword into you, can’t you see?”

Tetsuya lost it then. 


	3. Happy Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Yes yeeees. We’re Shadows, and Daddy’s the Light, and we have to wait for him to come find us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Dreams

They had just bought their weekly groceries – it was a Thursday; they always did their grocery shopping on Thursdays, together, hand in hand – and were stepping out of their regular shop, fingers sticky with melted ice cream, when they caught the edge of the familiar, polite smile.

It was suave, it was debonair; and it was every inch the practiced smile of a man who knows how to pacify and appease the people with a quirk of his lips – a tip of his head. He’s low-key today, dressed in a navy double-breasted suit that made him look quietly sophisticated.

It was the suit that they had bought for him for Christmas – the one that he had been so pleased with that he even wore it to bed when they snuggled at night.

There’s grace in the way he had stepped out of the car, a lean thing that looked more vicious, more elegant than the one that he uses to come to them.

And it’s strange, really, because there wasn’t even any sort of hoo-ha that made him stand out: no paparazzi, no camera flashes, no hand waves – nothing. And yet they had both automatically, instinctively swivelled towards him, as if they were born to gravitate towards him without any question.

“Daddy! It’s daddy!” the child whom he had by hand gasped with the kind of joy that only the ignorant – naïve, childlike, gullible – will know; and he had to lurch forward to grab him by the waist before the boy runs out into the road to get to the other man.

“Shh, Aki-chan,” he reprimanded quietly, hooking their purchases on the inside of his elbow as he breathed the words into the child’s ear. “It’s a weekday today, and you know you cannot speak to Daddy on a weekday, remember?”

The reminder made Aki-chan put a petulant little line to his brow, but he’d caught Aki-chan just in time, too, because right then, across the road, a woman stepped out of the car; and in an ironic act of mimicry, hooked her hands against the inside of the other man’s arms.

“Awww, come on, papa! Can’t we break that stupid rule just  _once?_ ”

Tetsuya looked down at their son – red-haired, red-eyed, and every bit as refined as his other father – and then at the golden band that glinted heartlessly against his ring finger on his left hand.

“No, Aki-chan. Remember our game?” He ruffled the child’s hair patiently and laughed a quiet huff when Aki-chan pulled a long-suffering sigh.

“Yes yeeees. We’re Shadows, and Daddy’s the Light, and we have to wait for him to come find us.”

Tetsuya pulled his son close and pressed a kiss to sweaty temples even as the boy playfully wriggled away.

“Good boy.”

And they turned their backs on Akashi Seijuurou, CEO of Shiori Corps, to walk home and wait.

-

Seijuurou paused right before they stepped up the stairs to the restaurant where he’s supposed to meet the rest of his board of directors, closed his eye, and took a deep, fortifying breath.

“Are you alright, Seijuurou?” A hand closed gently over his own then, worry clear in the young, feminine voice from his right.

Seijuurou looked over and smiled, steady again. “Yes, please don’t worry about me. I just felt like I had to sneeze, like someone’s thinking or talking about me.”

His companion laughed and leant up to kiss the side of his face – exactly the way a wife should.

And Seijuurou sneezed.

He will always know when Tetsuya is nearby.


	4. Remembering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Teppei brings a voiceless child into his home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: “Who are you?”. Possible triggers of child abuse, but so very mild. Incomplete fic…sorta.

No one questions anything when Teppei comes back with the child – a pale wraith of a little thing, so malnourished that Riko wanted to cry, and so petrified that every sound they make makes him shrink and bury his face into Teppei’s back. For the first three days, Tetsuya follows the larger man the way a little duckling follows its mother, fingers fisted into his shirt; and watches this new environment with large blue eyes that take up nearly more than half of his face – observing, observing, and flinching whenever someone moves unexpectedly, like he’s anticipating a blow for no reason at all.

“Teppei, we can’t – this isn’t our level to deal with. That child  _needs_  a professional therapist!” Riko urges her husband on the fourth night, quiet and urgent in the kitchen while he gets a drink and the boy cleans up in the bathroom. Teppei has decided to forgo his place in their bed and share a room with Tetsuya until the child has adapted to his new surroundings.

Her husband shakes his head mournfully then, putting a comforting hand over hers. “Junpei tried, Riko, and believe me when I say that it was hell. Not even Makoto – and you know how capable he is in spite of his reputation, don’t deny that – not even Makoto could get Tetsuya to leave with him.”

“And he decided to latch on to you for no particular reason?” Riko frowns, still unconvinced.

“I don’t know,” Teppei shrugs, uncertain but apologetic, “maybe because I was there first. And you know what they say about first imprints.”

“Yeah, but –”

“Riko, it’s not even a week yet. Can we try a little longer? Tetsuya’s…not…” Teppei struggles with his words for a while before giving up with a desperate sigh, “Look, I just don’t feel good passing him off to someone else, okay? I feel personally responsible for him.”

“Just because you were the first to arrive at the scene and find him?! What do you think he is – a little bird that clings onto the first thing it sees?”

Teppei rarely loses his temper because he doesn’t know his strength and may sometimes unintentionally wreck things, but this time, he regrets nothing when he slams his glass onto the table and breaks it – and it brings Tetsuya running out of the toilet, frightened and .

“Perhaps you were exhausted by your work today, which is why you said things you didn’t mean,” Teppei offers, speech stilted with restrained anger, “so perhaps I’ll speak to you again tomorrow about how this means much more than instant impression and gratification to me. Good night.”

He spends the night shushing Tetsuya, who sobbed silently and muttered noiselessly into his chest.

Teppei doesn’t need to hear it to know that Tetsuya’s whispering apologies.

-

In the end, it is Taiga who really manages to ease Tetsuya into the family after coming back from a month-long summer camp to two weeks of cold war and fragile peace at home. He’d heard of the new addition to their family while away and hadn’t been exactly sure what to feel, but when he got home and actually laid eyes on the boy, he’d instantly assumed the role of a big brother and took Tetsuya under his wings – with an adamant screech, a dramatic throw of his hands up into the air, and an indignant “Who the fuck let you grow so small?!”

(Teppei laughed with tears in his eyes even as he disciplined the boy with cane because Tetsuya had toppled over in shock before instinctively throwing himself against Taiga to shove his fingers against his mouth, shutting him up. It was the first time Tetsuya had reached out to communicate with the family.)

“Riko doesn’t hate you, you know,” Taiga tells him one night, whispering beneath the blankets that they share. Teppei had been demoted and kicked back into his own bedroom, and Taiga had dragged his new little brother into his own bed to make camp instead.

Tetsuya flicks on the flashlight that Taiga had given to him then, wanting to take a better look at the other boy’s face to see if he’s kidding because there’s really no way that Riko isn’t mad at him; but the screech of agony from Taiga quickly made him switch it off again.

“Idiot! Don’t do that so suddenly!”

Tetsuya reaches out with a soft touch to communicate his apologies, scooting closer, smiling when Taiga sighs and catches it, and kept it in his hold.

“Stupid child,” he grins after some time, as if knowing Tetsuya’s fondness, “Riko’s just jealous cuz you like Teppei more than her, okay. Go say hi properly tomorrow, and everything will be okay, got it?”

The next morning, Tetsuya does just that, with a timid tug at the hem of her clothes –

And Riko screams bloody murder, dropping the eggs in her grasp, and noogie-d the child into a fit of silent laughter.

“What if I were holding knives?!” she yells almost good-naturedly, and tosses the boy back over at Taiga and Tetsuya, both of whom are doubled over by the threshold of the kitchen and laughing themselves stupid. Teppei catches him in a hug, and lets go when Tetsuya edges forward cautiously to touch the back of Riko’s hand.

“ _What?_ ” she snaps, huffy and indignant.

“He’s saying sorry, Riko,” Taiga grins, hand pushed deep into the pockets of his jeans and looking as smug as the little shit can whenever he has the chance to lord some knowledge over her.

But she doesn’t rebuke him, merely turns her hand over and catches Tetsuya’s small hands in hers, not letting him pull away even when he nearly tears, startled.

“What’s your favourite food? I’ll make them for you.”

“NO,” Taiga bellows with horror.

“IT’S FINE IF YOU DON’T,” Teppei agrees wholeheartedly.

Tetsuya flexes his fingers against Riko’s warm palm, and ducks his head to hide the flush to his face.

-

But even then, Tetsuya doesn’t speak. It was as if his distress from before had permanently locked his voice within him, and even as he learns to express himself more freely with Taiga and his new family, no one has ever once heard his voice.

“Surely there’s a way to unmute you,” Taiga frowns at him one time when he found Tetsuya sobbing silent after accidentally burning himself on a pan while attempting to make breakfast for everyone. “If it hurts, you gotta say ‘ouch’ or ‘owie’ or you’re not normal, y’know?”

But Tetsuya only shakes his head in tears and stops only when Teppei soothes his wound with a kiss and a bandage.

“It’s okay, Tetsuya,” Teppei smiles and pulls the two of them into a hug, “we’ll do this slow and steady, okay? And I know Taiga’s worried, but don’t let it affect the way you interact with Tetsuya either, alright? You can’t push him too much, or he’ll feel obligated to heal, which usually just makes things worse.”

“I won’t,” Taiga promises with an enthusiastic grin, and fistbumps Tetsuya. “We’ll definitely find a cure for you soon enough, okay?”

Riko comes back from work to find the three of them writing messages on post-it notes to each other, just for the heck of it.

-

And they  _do_  find it – Tetsuya’s voice – three years later –

In the strangest, most unlikely place.

-

“Stay close to me, Tetsuya, I don’t want to have to looking for you high and low,” Taiga warns as he tugs at the boy’s hand, another arm going around Tetsuya’s shoulder as they plough through the throng of people who were attracted to the bright lights of the travelling carnival. Tetsuya taps his fingers twice, ferociously, against the inside of Taiga’s wrist and sets his face into a glower that only made his brother laugh.

“Alright, alright. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that, okay?”

“If Tetsu’s so much trouble for you, then maybe y’should just hand him over to me instead,” Daiki chimes from their left, tossing a taunting smirk at Taiga and holding out his hand to Tetsuya. “Satsuki and I’ll take super good care of him.”

As expected, Taiga bristles at the insinuation that Daiki would make a better sibling, and growls at his friend. He’s never liked that the other boy had taken a particular fondness to his brother from the first time they’d met when Taiga brought Tetsuya along to a basketball practice at their school.

“Go away, bastard. This is  _our_  outing, what are you even doing here?! Take your meddlesome self somewhere far away!”

“Aw come on. Jealous I would make a better brother? You’re always sucking up to that Himuro dude anyway, I can hang out with Tetsu in the meantime.”

“Tatsuya’s got nothing to do with this, okay,” Taiga snaps, and tugs Tetsuya away further. “C’mon, I see that fish scooping thingy that you like. Let’s see who can catch more? We can go check out the shooting range after that and win something for Riko.”

He really likes the way Tetsuya brightens up even without smiling – it’s obvious enough in the way the boy’s fingers tighten around his hold and the slight swing of their linked arms.

“Oy, don’t fucking lose Tetsu this time,” Daiki calls even as he gets cut off by the sudden surge of carnival visitors, and Taiga gives him the middle salute and a resolute “I won’t!”.

Except fate is really out for his blood, and he finds himself Tetsuya-less while on the way to the takoyaki and dango stall.

“ _Tetsuya_ , goddamnit!”

-

If Taiga had been with Tetsuya, he would have dragged the boy away, screaming his head off about creepy-looking, rundown stalls, but he isn’t, and Tetsuya doesn’t know until he tries to tug at the hem of his brother’s shirt to get his attention. Instead of the familiar feel of the hoodie that Taiga wears during their outdoor trips, his fingers settles gullibly into the soft touch of a cold, velvet grasp –

“Oh my. Good evening to you too, honoured guest.”

In that moment, Tetsuya swears that he will never ever scare Taiga with the flashlight trick ever again because –  _wow_ , so this is how a heart attack feels like.

But even through the fright, Tetsuya registers the look of amusement that is directed at him and wonders at the pair of eyes that glows crimson even in the darkness of this deserted corner of the carnival. It’s a red that’s not Taiga, and Tetsuya isn’t sure if he should feel comforted by the foreign familiarity of it.

“Curious little child, aren’t you. Not many people stop by my stall because they don’t come so far into the carnival,” the stranger smiles down at him then, older and taller than him – than Taiga, even – and Tetsuya thinks that this is about when he should start running because god knows that Teppei and Riko have drilled enough of the  _see-stranger-run-immediately_  talk into him, but Tetsuya catches sight of the strings that runs around his wrists and his fingers, and he is beguiled.

“And very sharp-eyed too,” the stranger comments again, lifting a hand to wiggle his fingers almost cheerfully, slivers of light catching in the single temperamental bulb that lights the stall – almost comparable to little bits of diamonds and glasses clung to it. “Would you like to see?”

And Tetsuya panics all over again, feeling a dread climb up his spine, and he smiles and touches his chin with an open palm before tossing his thanks forward with a shake of his head.

_Thanks, but it’s okay_.

He’s not sure if the stranger understands him, though, so he picks out his phone and shows him the picture of Taiga and him, cuddled against each other on the lock screen, before turning half of his body to move away, except –

“Oh, but Taiga won’t miss you yet, Tetsuya,” the stranger chuckles now, and lifts up his arm higher.

_It’s not diamonds_ , Tetsuya realises this time,  _it’s a spider thread_.

And at the end of the spider thread hangs a puppet –

Blue-haired and cross-lipped.

“Don’t you remember me?” 


	5. The Driver

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akashi offers Kuroko a ride home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: First meetings

Aomine and Momoi and Kise would often walk home with him, and that’s a fact. They’ll make a loud havoc of themselves as they jab insults and whine (mostly Kise) at each other, laughing and tossing basketballs around, carelessly sincere in their admiration and respect for each other. It’s their heart – their token of exchange – and it’ll break it in the future, once ruthless Victory makes them her slaves, but for now, the bravado of youth has made them playful and careless.

Most of the time, the ball sails right over Kuroko’s head, and Momoi has once asked if he ever felt left out amidst Aomine’s and Kise’s capering, but he only hides his smile into his pages and leaves her even more love-struck.

Sometimes, when Murasakibara finds out that they are planning to make detours to convenience stores, game arcades, or cake cafés, he will make it a point to join them, trailing along listlessly like an oversized puppy until they actually get to the shop – and he lights up like a Christmas tree then. Even Midorima sometimes tags along, making a show of dragging his feet as if he’s being held at gunpoint to go with them, but still comically-hostilely attentive and considerate to their every action.

But Akashi.

Akashi never joins them.

That’s a fact.

And Kuroko never questions the why, the what, or the how of facts.

Akashi is  _absolute_  after all.

-

Except one day, Kuroko falls asleep by accident in the shade of the outdoor gym, sheltered away from the heat by a wall of plants and bushes. He’s leaning against the wall, with a novel dropped beside him and a kitten  _on_ his lap, and there’s a crick in his neck that makes it difficult for him to raise his head properly.

It’s amusing, the way he jerks up awkwardly once he realises the time – it is almost eight, and he’s gotten fifteen missed calls from his mother and what he feels is an equal number of mosquito bites on his exposed face and neck. He apologises to the startled kitten even as he types out an explanation to his parent, and yawns during his harried escape out.

Amusing turns hilarious when he reaches the main gate and finds out that he’s locked in because the guard has taken an early day off for whatever reason, and Kuroko has absolutely no choice but to climb the gates if he intends to even go home that night. He is in the middle of hiking his pants up when he abruptly feels the urge to look up and finds an amused glint in maroon eyes staring right back at him.

“A-Akashi-kun,” Kuroko starts in surprise, louder than usual, and then instinctively swallows his voice into a subdued noise that makes Akashi’s smile grow wider, fonder.

“What on earth are you doing, Kuroko?” There is a hint of laughter that makes Kuroko flame up, embarrassed by the way the leg of his pants is still halfway lifted.

“I – uh,” Kuroko ducks his head and bends to straighten his pants as discreetly as he could. It’s not very often that he finds himself at loss for words, but embarrassment has a way of compounding the effect when he does.

There’s really no other way to phrase the situation, though. Kuroko looks away from Akashi and stares at his book bag that he’d hung on one of the many protrusions from the school gate. “I’m afraid I got locked in.”

“How did that even happen?” Akashi chuckles, “Were you doing extra practice even though I specifically told all of you to rest after the competition that we had yesterday? Even Aomine listened, Kuroko.”

“It’s not that, Akashi-kun,” Kuroko goes as close to a pout as he sometimes does, pushing some more at the leg of his pants before admitting almost bashfully, “I – fell asleep by accident. I was reading by the gym, and…”

“And you forgot to put on your alarm?” Akashi offers courteously, smiling, when Kuroko flushes some more.

“But what is Akashi-kun still doing here though?” Kuroko thinks to ask after that, tipping his head to the side and looking at the bag that still hangs by Akashi’s shoulder. He doesn’t think much of it now, but the way Akashi still seems unflustered even at the late hour leaves an impression on him, and Kuroko will still find himself thinking of Akashi’s proficiency and professionalism later that night.

“I was just leaving after finishing some student council work, but I think I left some of my documents in the room,” Akashi gestures at the building vaguely, “so I kind of came back to take it.”

“Ah…” Kuroko nods compliantly, but double takes in surprise. “Akashi-kun is coming back to get documents? Are you planning to –”

Kuroko doesn’t often attach stereotypes – he does his best not to, but even the thought of Akashi trying to climb over the gates like he’s doing is… a little bizarre to absorb. When Akashi tilts his head in question to prompt Kuroko, and is replied with an equally vague hand gesture at the gate, he laughs into his fingers, an elegant grace in the way he lifts his hand up to cover his face.

“No, Kuroko,” he smiles wider, affection (mischievous teasing, says Kuroko) clear in his voice. Kuroko blinks when Akashi unzips one of the compartments of his bag and starts rummaging. “I got a copy of the keys from Tanizawa-san before he left earlier today to celebrate his daughter’s birthday.”

It’s with a flourish that Akashi produces the keys, and Kuroko thinks that he’s never seen Akashi look as young as he does then – a boy who’s contented with being able to produce just the right thing at the right moment.

“Wow, Akashi-kun’s influence certainly spreads far and wide, doesn’t it?” Kuroko teases, perhaps a little out-of-character, but it’s worth it when Akashi laughs and shakes his head.

“See that car there?” Akashi says after he’s unlocked the gate and pulled Tetsuya out by the crook of his elbow, pointing at a decidedly expensive-looking car. A man stands watchful by the side, training what Kuroko thinks is a sharp eye on them. He’s not sure if the man can see him, though; Kuroko tracks the slant of his body to a watchful pose that is focused chiefly on Akashi.

_A driver, huh? We should have guessed,_ Kuroko thinks.  _No wonder he never goes home with us._

“Kuroko?” Akashi prompts when Kuroko doesn’t say anything, merely nods, and blinks when Akashi continues, “Go over there and wait for me, alright? It’s already pretty late, so let us drive you home after this.”

And he disappears before Kuroko could even protest. It leaves him with no room to do more than sigh, and a few beats pass by before he begins to trudge over to the man.

“Um. Excuse me.”

Kuroko doesn’t blame him when he accidentally slaps Kuroko in the face as he flails backwards in shock.

“Good God, I apologise for that. I really didn’t see you there,” the man gasps with a hand over his heart, and Kuroko thinks that he’s got an exceptionally kind face, but somehow, someway, lined with a strange kind of helplessness. It’s in the crow’s feet and the lines that stretches over his forehead, and Kuroko wonders what could be so difficult that this man smiles like he wants to cry.

But he’s a stranger, and Kuroko’s brought up to be a polite, unassuming child.

“Please don’t worry about it. It’s my fault,” he says, and bows low. “Good evening to you, and I’m sorry to impose, but Akashi-kun told me to wait here with you while he picks something up in the school. Will that be alright?”

“Ah. The Young Master did?” the man smiles and nods, “I suppose it must be late already, and he’s worried about you walking home alone.”

“Yes,” Kuroko agrees and bows again. “My name is Kuroko Tetsuya, by the way.”

“Oh, yes. I’m Tanizawa Kenichi,” the man responds, and Kuroko thinks he sees years of strict training in the curve of this man’s spine.

“You’re… Akashi-kun’s uncle?” He knows that it’s wrong, seeing the discipline that the man is ingrained with, but it would be rude to assume outright that he’s speaking to a servant.  _Are you Akashi-kun’s servant?_ is about the rudest thing that he can think of asking someone on their first meeting.

Tanizawa laughs like Kuroko’s made the world’s funniest joke every. “Goodness no, child. I’m just the driver, Kuroko-san.”

Kuroko’s never had himself be referred to as –san before. It makes him feel like he’s stepping into his father’s shoes – uncomfortable and awkward. “Please, Tanizawa-san. It’s just Kuroko.”

The man laughs again, and looks at Kuroko the way an affectionate uncle would. He thinks that’s how this man looks at Akashi-kun too, and thinks that Akashi-kun really is lucky. “But Kuroko, huh?”

“Eh?”

“Ah, I beg your pardon. I was just wondering if you were the same one.”

Kuroko blinks, shifts his bag from his right shoulder to the left, and prays for Akashi’s speedy reappearance. This man, while kind, sounded a little suspicious and awkward. It’s respect and obedience to his captain that stops him from turning and running away immediately, and he answers politely, “I’m sorry, I’m afraid I don’t quite get what you mean by that?”

“Ahahaha. The Young Master mentions you quite regularly when he sometimes talks to us about his day at school,” Tanizawa chuckles, and it makes Kuroko wonder just what kind of reputation these people might have of him.

“Nothing bad, though,” Tanizawa quickly adds, chuckling into his hands the way Akashi had, “Just very amusing.”

“That… doesn’t sound very comforting,” Kuroko deadpans, but nearly laughs when Tanizawa snickers almost unprofessionally and whispers conspiratorially into his ear, “Better than Aomine-san and Kise-san.”

“Oh dear.”

“Oh dear indeed.”

“Oh dear what?” Akashi chimes in suddenly from a completely unexpected direction, startling the both of them.

“Oh dear, did Akashi-kun learn how to use misdirection too?”

Akashi laughs. “I used the back gate. It’s closer, is all. You two need to learn to pay attention to your surrounding better.”

“Of course, Young Master,” Tanizawa replies even as Kuroko says, “Akashi-kun isn’t allowed to steal my special move.”

“Get in already, it’s too late for these kind of arguments,” Akashi orders, but there is a curve to his lips that Kuroko thinks make Tanizawa smile wider. And even as he opens the door to let Akashi climb in before their guest, he still manages to lean down to Kuroko’s ear and whispers –

-

“Thank you for the ride, Akashi-kun, Tanizawa-san. I really appreciate it.”

“Not a problem at all. Please make sure to rest well, Kuroko.”

“Yes, I will. Thank you again.”

And when Kuroko slips into bed that night, he thinks that while he dislikes being in any sort of limelight, being appreciated really does feel good after all.

_“He respects you a lot, you know.”_

Kuroko kills the light and doesn’t slip the rest of the night. 


	6. The Consigliare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where everyone is now part of the Italian mafia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Age gap

The sun has barely set beyond the horizon, the dance has barely begun, and Daiki has barely identified the girls whom he intends to bed that evening – and Tetsuya is already feeling like he’s about to just give up and call an end to the evening.

“’ey, none of that. It’s your coming-of-age, and the old bastard had taken the effort to throw you an official celebration, so take advantage of it, man,” Daiki drawls as he slings an arm around him even as his eyes stray after a particularly busty woman who walks past them as if she couldn’t care less. But Tetsuya isn’t nicknamed the Sentinel for nothing, young as he is; he’s spent more than half of his life watching over his more flamboyant cousin and keeping an eye out for the Famiglia as repayment for taking him in and treating him as one of their own after the death of his parents in an assassination plot – and he can bet on Daiki’s life that the last swing of her hips while on the way to the crowded dancefloor was totally intentional.

“Hot damn,” Daiki whistles, but flinches when Tetsuya shoves a hard finger into his side. “Tetsuuuu, come on!”

Tetsuya sighs and tips his head slightly even as he regards his elder cousin from the corner of his eyes. “Fine. By all means, then. But just let me warn you this much before you go: I really don’t think you’ll be able to survive a second round of punishment if Miss Satsuki finds out.”

“Rude!” Daiki screeches indignantly, perhaps aghast at the lack of faith that Tetsuya seemingly has in his endurance, but it’s not an understatement to say that he’d turned so pale, no one would doubt their relationship to each other at all.

“It’s my responsibility to ensure your safety, Daiki,” Tetsuya deadpans, tipping his head and raising his own glass of champagne politely at one of their guests who’d turned in his direction and sent a greeting toast to him. “I’m not sure if you’re aware, but I take my work very seriously. _Very_  seriously.”

“It was not necessary to repeat the end!” Daiki leans to the side and pulls his cousin into a playful headlock that sloshes his drink dangerously, laughing even as Tetsuya turns an interesting shade of blue.

“Hn. You pick them up then. It’s your right for the night,” he says after he lets Tetsuya go, picking his cousin’s cup up and draining it on his behalf – and just like that, Tetsuya finds himself sighing. It’s not that Daiki is trying to be mean – God knows how often Tetsuya has found him secretly helping random strangers in the random-est matters – but he has a careless streak of naïvet

[é](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/na%C3%AFvet%C3%A9)

that is often misinterpreted as meanness by strangers who meet him for the first time. Daiki’s talented – more talented than anyone that Tetsuya knows, aside from a handful of other people – but Daiki himself doesn’t appear to know or care. He looks at the world with a kind of guilelessness where he thinks that everyone is equally capable, and expects so. Because of this, his expectations – and words, on more than one occasion – has come out sounding arrogantly mean, insulting more than one parties at a time even if he didn’t mean it. Both Tetsuya and Satsuki have been doing their best to show him that

_no, Daiki, you can’t say “Whoa, what do you mean you can’t do something so friggin’ easy!”_

because it’s beyond just rude; it’s condescending. If the Famiglia must fall, it will not be because of internal fraught caused by the future leader’s lack of tact – not on their watch. And Daiki’s learning, but it’s an uphill progress because he fights them all the way – but Tetsuya thanks their stars that his cousin recognises their intentions and concedes defeat whenever he finally

_does_

see things their way. So he pats Daiki’s arm and flicks his ear. “Daiki is such a mean person.” “What did I do wrong this time?!” Tetsuya shakes his head regretfully. “How would you feel if this is Mr Sugita’s party and he just picks Miss Satsuki up because ‘it’s his right’?” Daiki’s reaction is instantaneous – and explosive, literally. The champagne flute that shatters in his grip shocks some of the nearby guests, and Tetsuya subtly shifts his body with an apologetic bow before gesturing for one of the nearby attendants to clear up the shards. “If Sugita even

_thinks_

–” “So don’t think of other women as items that we have rights to either. At least not like that. Stare crudely if you must, but never pick them up just because,” Tetsuya interrupts decisively then, and stares Daiki down until he gives in with a sigh.

“Fiiine.  _Fine,_ ” Daiki scowls, defeated. “Spoil the evening, why don’t you. You’re worse than Shintarou, I swear.”

“Only when the occasion calls for it, and this certainly is one,” Tetsuya pacifies with a pat on Daiki’s arm and inclines his head. “And even if I did take you up on your offer, I wouldn’t have been able to manage because –”

“Because I’ve laid claim to this child after all.”

“Jesus Christ, Seijuurou, give me a heart attack, why don’t you?! Assholes, the both of you!” Daiki throws his arms up into the air in frustration, glaring at the newcomer who’d appeared over Tetsuya’s shoulder, looping a comfortable arm over the boy to draw him closer.

“Show some respect to the Consigliere of the Cosa Nostra, Daiki,” Tetsuya reprimands automatically, twisting around to stoop into a prim little bow at the commanding presence that is Seijuurou Akashi. “Mr Akashi should be equally aware of his position and take care of his conducts in public as well. The Don will be displeased if he were to find you slacking on the job.”

“Strict as always, Tetsuya,” Seijuurou laughs easily, shrugging and shaking his head in resignation. “There’s no pleasing the Sentinel, is there?”

“If Tetsu were that easy, you wouldn’t have had your eye on him, would you?” Daiki quips almost automatically, then doubles over when Tetsuya jabs him in the sides again.

“Tetsu, goddammit!”

“Please don’t spoil the Famiglia’s name so shamelessly, Daiki,” Tetsuya scolds, but there is a delighted smile on Seijuurou’s lips that makes Tetsuya flush and shift to hide closer to his cousin.

“How is the party doing for you though?” Seijuurou was gracious enough to let Tetsuya keep his dignity.

“Nothing quite out of the ordinary,” Tetsuya nods gratefully, “Performing the usual babysitter duties, is all.”

“Oy!”

But Seijuurou chuckles, and then quite unexpectedly, lowers himself into a bend that frightens Tetsuya bad enough he nearly pulls out his knives. “Allow me the honour of one dance, Tetsuya.”

It’s on autopilot when Tetsuya starts to shake his head, but Daiki catches his arm with a hand and grins cheekily. “Don’t spoil the Famiglia’s name, Tetsu. Rejecting an elder’s invitation is a pretty serious offence, I’m sure y'know.”

The way Tetsuya narrows his eyes at Daiki after that promises vengeance and there is a possibility of him dying in the near future, but he thinks that it is worth the flush of pride that he feels when he sees his cousin fits his fingers against Seijuurou’s.

And when Tetsuya begins to relax into Seijuurou’s hold on the dance floor, the barest smile on his lips, he thinks that it is well worth his effort of planning the entire party.

Tetsu deserves to be happy, and Daiki will do his best to ensure that. 


	7. The End of the World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The cheesy fic where Seijuurou and Tetsuya have the power to stop the end of the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: AU. This is written for akashikuroko and muffarino because we talked about post-apocalyptic akkr (except it’s not really the way we imagined it).

The room is dark when Seijuurou returns to it. Nothing out of the ordinary, really, because he’s instructed the servants to let him light the candles in his private chambers on his own. It didn’t matter that he’s the k’uhul ajaw; if he were to expect his people to practise economical spending, he’d have to lead by example.

Except this is his space, and he knows instantly that the darkness has been disturbed.

He pauses at the threshold of the entrance, a hand barely lifting the cloth that bars his chambers from view, and shakes his head when one of the guards down the long hallway approaches him with a concerned look.

“Don’t worry, there’s nothing too serious going on. I just thought I saw a bug, is all,” Seijuurou nods and sends the man away, watching as he returns to his post before he flips the cloth open.

“Tetsuya, you could have warned me earlier that you’ll be visiting. That was rather close, don’t you think?” There’s a warm note in the tone of his voice as he announces it into a seemingly empty space.

And the still darkness rustles a little to the corner on his left before breaking away to materialise into a first glint of gold of a chain, and a second glint of blue of quiet eyes. Tetsuya’s movement is fluid as he glides forward to bend at his king’s feet, and his voice is without inflection when he murmurs his greeting into the spot between them.

“Good evening, Your Majesty,” Tetsuya keeps his head lowered, exposing the back of his neck in polite submission, “I apologise for intruding into your private chambers without prior notice. It’s just that -”

Except Tetsuya doesn’t get further than that because his king has gone down with him to the ground, collecting his fluttering, frayed self into a tight clutch.

“What is it, Tetsuya?” Seijuurou’s voice is instantly low and urgent beside Tetsuya’s ear, and that’s when he realises that his composure has slipped bad enough that even his king saw the need to comfort him.

“Your Majesty -” Tetsuya starts, but Seijuurou pushes his face into the crook of his neck and gives him no chance to recollect himself. It’s frightening how he almost instantly breathes in his king’s scent, instinctively relaxing and tipping forward.

Except Tetsuya isn’t Tetsuya if he’s not stubborn, and he struggles to move away from Seijuurou’s reach.

“Tetsuya. I can make this an order if I must.”

And Tetsuya knows that Seijuurou means every word that he says, but there is something that has shaken him to the core of his being, and he’s afraid that if he sticks any closer, Seijuurou will be able to draw everything out of him from just his heartbeat.

lt isn’t that Tetsuya didn’t want to be at ease.

It’s that he can’t.

He’s not completely foolish either - whatever he now knows, Seijuurou, too, will come to know; as the ruler of one of the greatest civilisation to exist, Seijuurou has to be informed. It’s really just a matter of time, and yet…

And yet, Tetsuya thinks that it’s fine - if he could keep it from Seijuurou for even just another minute, he’ll do it.

But Seijuurou doesn’t let him: because he’s fearless, gallant, lionhearted - because unlike Tetsuya, Seijuurou isn’t a coward.

-

_The Mayans use two primary calendars to help them keep track of their days: the Tzolk’in and the Long Count calendar._

_The Tzolk’in calendar spans only a total of 260 days: 13 days in every 20 months. Used to track religious holidays and to speculate the “horoscope” of a person from birth. Useful, but not practical enough to calculate a full solar year, which is why the Mayans also uses a secondary calendar alongside the Tzolk’in calendar, called the Haab calendar, to assist with this task. The Haab calendar is almost similar to our modern Gregorian calendar: 360 days, with five “unnamed days” to calculate a whole year – and nothing more than that._

_But the Mayan concept of time didn’t merely stop at a year. It went beyond._

_Hence, a second primary calendar: the Long Count calendar. Spanning a far more extensive time period than any other known calendars then - even now - one Long Count calendar lasts over 5,125 years, referred to as the Great Cycle. Each cycle is made up of five units: one day (kin), 20 days (uinal), 360 days (tun), 7,200 days (katun), and 144,000 days (baktun), and the Great Cycle ends at every 13th baktun._

_21 December 2012, the supposed “end of the world”, was the last day of the current Great Cycle - before it was expected to start all over again._

(adapted from [International Business Times](http://www.ibtimes.com/what-mayan-calendar-does-it-predict-end-world-956568))

-

“I’m not getting your point,” Seijuurou admits as he slumps and reclines into the luxurious fur of his couch, the line of his spine relaxing in the presence of treasured, cherished Tetsuya. Childhood had been kind to their friendship, and adulthood even kinder. There are no sides of Seijuurou that Tetsuya has never seen. “The arrival of the fourth Great Cycle has just been celebrated not two uinals ago, and the end is several baktuns coming, so I really don’t see why you’re already so concerned about its end.”

“Your Majesty -”

“That’s not what you call me in private, Tetsuya,” Seijuurou narrows his eyes at his companion, relenting only when his friend heaves an indulgent sigh and joins him by the couch and begins fiddling with the nearby tea set.

“Childish, Seijuurou,” Tetsuya pretends to snap and cuts an amused look to the side at his king before shifting into a more serious look. “You’re not seeing things the way I’m seeing, my friend. I wish the problem were as easy to sweep away as saying that the end of Great Cycle is baktuns to come, and there is little need to concern ourselves over it.”

Seijuurou shifts his shoulder almost non-committally, fondly. “That’s why you’re the Royal Scribe and the Head Priest of the Kingdom. You were never supposed to see things the way I do; nor I, you.”

But Tetsuya sweeps away Seijuurou’s easygoing offhandedness and casualty with a grave stare and the pass of a cup of tea. “Seijuurou, the end of the Great Cycle means the beginning of a new one - you know that. And the beginning of the new Great Cycle will only happen if the First Father and the Cosmic Mother come together to ‘recreate’ the world, so to speak -”

“‘When the First Father and the Cosmic Mother’, Tetsuya,” Seijuurou corrects him pointedly, except Tetsuya clams up then and gives him another hard stare in silence.

“‘If’, Seijuurou,” he finally amends, and lets the implication sinks in for his friend as he drinks from his own cup.

-

_The Great Cycle isn’t just a calendar to calculate time – it’s more than that. The Palenque Creation myth tells us that the Mayans believe each Great Cycle is brought forth by the First Mother (also the Cosmic Mother) and the First Father, along with all the other gods that the Mayans pay their respect to. “Humanity”, then, has to “emerge” from each current Cycle to progress to the next Cycle in order to develop and mature._

_The creatures in the first Cycle, for instance, were the gods’  failed attempts at creating human beings, resulting in howling, chattering creatures which they quickly transformed into animals. Once they transcended into the second Cycle, the gods achieved slightly more success with man made out of mud, except he dissolves in the rain._

_The third Cycle sees men progressing from mud to wood, but even these were no good because while they were able to function in a primitive fashion, they were unable to properly pay respect to the gods who had created them. These were our ape ancestors._

_It is only finally, in the fourth Cycle, that we - men - were properly created, but even then, no one knows if the gods are well pleased with us. In spite of that, this progression and development is the reason no Mayans will fear the Great Cycle or see it as an apocalypse._

_To them, it is not the end of the world._

_To them, it is a new, better beginning - a reason for celebration._

(adapted from [Jaguar Wisdom: The Mayan Vision of History](http://www.jaguarwisdom.org/articles/history.html))

-

Seijuurou is biting at his lips and sipping at his drink ceaselessly, and Tetsuya’s heart breaks for his friend. He worries even more when his companion gets off the couch to pace, before settling back down restlessly again. This knowledge alone - that there is the possibility of an end to your world as you know it - is already a heavy burden to carry. Tetsuya is not sure how he wants to break the second part of news to Seijuurou.

“So it’s an if instead of a when, huh?” Seijuurou murmurs, and then he abruptly jerks up with a sharp look at Tetsuya. “Does this mean that there might have been the possibility of us hurtling towards the end of the world during the end of the previous Cycle?”

Tetsuya can hear the underlying accusation: Did you know? Why didn’t you tell us?, and he doesn’t blame Seijuurou because even he would have thought of it as a form of betrayal.

But he didn’t know, and so shakes his head emphatically to reassure his friend. “The Secret Scroll that all Royal Head Priest is dated - and we are instructed to open it only when the date are upon us. You know this.”

The look of relief on Seijuurou’s face is almost gratifying. “So it’s an information in the Secret Scroll? What else does it say? Were we possibly approaching the apocalypse without knowing?”

Tetsuya wants to laugh at the fire-rapid questions because Seijuurou is usually almost always ethereal and omnipotent. Everything that Tetsuya cannot do, he can. Everything that Tetsuya can, he does even better. For the first time, Tetsuya finds himself in a position where he has more information than his king, and he is shaking with the terror of it.

How shamelessly horrifying.

“Tetsuya?”

He wants to laugh - he wants to cry - he is not sure what he wants.

“No, Your Majesty. We were not approaching the apocalypse. At all. It is a fact.”

And the way Seijuurou brightens is just as lovely as Tetsuya remembers seeing for the first time nearly eighteen years ago, when Tetsuya had impressed the young king-to-be with his subdued, formidable knowledge and earned himself royal respect.  

“There a definite way of evading it then?” Seijuurou is a good king, Tetsuya thinks, that he’s always concerned over the wellbeing of his people to the point that he would give anything in the court just for them. Call him a ruler with an iron fist, or a heavy-handed monarch, but never accuse him of being an evil sovereign because that, he is not.

But he wonders also - just how much does this man love his kingdom.

“Tetsuya? I would really appreciate your council if you have any thoughts or solution about it.”

And just like that, Tetsuya must reveal the second half of the burden to King Akashi Seijuurou, the monarch of the great Mayan Empire; and prays to the great Cit-Bolon-Tum for His Majesty’s sanity.

-

_Human sacrifice is not regarded as an act of cruelty in Maya culture. Rather, it was the ritual offering of nourishment to the gods. The sacrifice of a human life is seen as an act of great honour, and many of their rituals will culminate in one of such acts., such as the construction of a new building._

_The sacrifice of an enemy king is the most prized offering, and is usually reserved for the most important of rituals. There are many methods to carry out the act of sacrifice, but the most common form of human sacrifice is heart extraction._

(adapted from [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_civilization))

-

“The solution… isn’t all that difficult, actually,” Tetsuya starts after a pause. “As it is with many of our rituals and ventures, it needs a prized blood offering in order to properly nourish the Cosmic Mother and First Father so that the beginning of the next Great Cycle is guaranteed. The sacrifice has to be done in the beginnings of our current Cycle, too, in order to ensure a smooth progression towards the end of it. It’s been predicted that the human civilisation will be besieged by storms of flood, fire, and hail if otherwise.”

Seijuurou appears delighted at that, throwing his head back in a long roll of relieved laughter - before it tapers off into a grave, nearly frigid look.

“If it were that simple, then you wouldn’t have looked so disturbed when you first entered my chambers, would you?”

The stretch of silence between them is deafening, and Tetsuya thinks again that he’s extremely lucky to have entered the service of such a wise king.

“Yes,” he admits, and walks to one of the many windows in the room. “In a way.”

“What are the conditions?” Seijuurou doesn’t beat around the bush at all, and he doesn’t flinch when he looks at Tetsuya then -

He doesn’t when Tetsuya tells him the answer either, and Tetsuya cannot help but to be tragically glad once more.

-

22 December 2012

“Wow, I’m not sure what to say,” Daiki laughs as he dumps his bookbag into the seat beside Tetsuya before slumping into the seat as well. “We’ve survived another apocalypse!”

“Please don’t mention that in front of Midorima-kun or we’ll have another round of debate over the stars, horoscopes, and predictions,” Tetsuya offers quietly, patting his friend with a hand on his shoulder and a smile.

“Yeah, but it’s cause for celebration, yeah?” Daiki grins, and it’s infectious because Tetsuya finds himself returning it without hesitation. “We’ll sneak booze or something for tonight, and then maybe just go out and hang around or something!”

“Oh my,” Seijuurou nods at them as he enters the clubroom then, catching Tetsuya’s eye in a held-back laugh at Daiki’s instantly paling face, “What an interesting evening you’ve had planned there, Daiki.”

“It was just a joke!!”

“I’m sure it was,” Seijuurou replies, walking over to his own lockers, and no one sees the slightest of shudder of mirth that shook his shoulders aside from Tetsuya.

“TOTALLY! No self-respectable sportsman would do something so stupid such as harming his own body with alcohol, yeah, Tetsu?” Daiki feigns his enthusiasm with a fistbump to his partner, which he plays along to with a fond, amused look on his face.

“Anyway, I’d assume that the reason for your celebratory mood is due to our survival of the supposed apocalypse yesterday?”

“Turns out the Mayan calendar isn’t all that accurate, after all, is it?” Tetsuya covers a half of his face with a book and peers over with an indulgent sparkle in his eyes, which Seijuurou meets before breaking away with an order for them to head over to the basketball court as soon as possible.

“Don’t be late, you two.”

“Right behind you,” Daiki grins, excited, genuinely enthusiastic once more. “We’re gonna practise that banana pass of yours again, Tetsu!”

“Yes, Aomine-kun,” Tetsuya replies with a smile, but as he follows his teammates out, he wonders if he’d imagined the teary shine in Seijuurou’s eyes.

-

_“The price really isn’t all that big, Your Majesty. You only need the blood offering of a holy man.”_


End file.
